Real estate sales continue to increase

A three-year trend of steady increases in property transfers continued in Alleghany County during 2004, according to information from the Alleghany Register of Deeds Office.

The value of all property sold in Alleghany County during 2004 was $62,239,500, up about $12.5 million from $49,706,000 in 2003.

The numbers also show a three-year pattern of increase from 2002, when property sales totaled 44,640,250 in 2002.

Register of Deeds Lizabeth Reeves Roupe reports total excise tax (deed stamp) revenue of $124,479 was collected in 2004, an increase of about $25,000 from 2003, when the total was $99,412. In 2002, the reported amount collected was $89,280.50.

Excise tax is a state tax charged on land transfers in which money or an interest in property is exchanged, Roupe explained. The amount of that tax is $2 per $1,000 of the actual sales price.

In terms of total revenue, the register of deeds office accumulated $232,624 in 2004. The previous year, the office collected $192,874.15. “Obviously, a large portion of our total office revenue is from the excise tax paid on land transfers,” Roupe said.

The 911 Mapping Office provided information regarding the number of transfers in each township during 2004. According to the reports, Gap Civil Township reported about 275 transfers, the most of any township in the county. Cranberry Township reported the least amount of transfers, about 47, during the year.

Coming in second for the number of transfers in 2004 was Cherry Lane with 231, while Piney Creek had the third most transfers with 225. In Glade Creek, 185 land transfers were recorded, while Prathers Creek reported 68 transfers.

Some of the records kept at the register of deeds office include land transfers, deeds of trust, satisfaction of deeds of trust, foreclosures, land plats, fixture filings, notary oaths, military discharges, births, deaths, marriages, incorporations and assumed names. Roupe added that other than just recording the land records on a paper format, the department has made the information available electronically on a website. The site address is www.alleghanycounty-nc.gov.

“We have worked with the mapping office to get land and related records online for the public,” she said. The direct website for this is www.allcorod.com.

“It seems we have had a very busy year,” she said. “It has been a bigger year than last year.”

Get the rest of this article in this week's issue of the Alleghany News! Back